John 11:40 (DBY)

Passage

Jesus says to her, Did I not say to thee, that if thou shouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

Nearby Context

John 11:38 Jesus therefore, again deeply moved in himself, comes to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

John 11:39 Jesus says, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead, says to him, Lord, he stinks already, for he is four days [there].

John 11:40 Jesus says to her, Did I not say to thee, that if thou shouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

John 11:41 They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifted up his eyes on high and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me;

John 11:42 but I knew that thou always hearest me; but on account of the crowd who stand around I have said [it], that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "says", "thee", "thou", "shouldest", and "believe". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "says", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "Jesus says Take away the stone Martha..." into verse 41's "They took therefore the stone away And...", so "jesus" and "says" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "says" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.